Holiday Happenings!

 Here is a new painting currently showing at the Howard/Mandville Gallery 'Holiday Showcase'. 

Exhibition runs through December 31st.

'Hallows Eve Revelry'..........oil on canvas panel...........12x16 inches

Seasons Greetings!

The New Year is almost upon us and although it seems the Mayan apocalyptic predictions were a tad bit exaggerated, I still think they might have foreseen all this wacky weather we’ve been having.  

Just got back from the Caribbean and it was beautiful, just the most perfect weather ever, a good twenty degrees warmer than Los Angeles and who knows how much warmer than parts further North.  Ben and I snorkeled in crystal blue waters on white sand beaches, took in some Reggae music (and rum)  at the local bars, and mostly relaxed and recharged from a busy 2012.  Now it’s back to work and I’m gradually settling into my studio once again to create some exciting new works for 2013 and getting ready for my Ojai plein air workshop in April (looking forward to painting those rolling hills in the beautiful Ojai countryside!)

Currently I am participating in a few Holiday group shows that will be closing by the end of December.
If you still have some last minute (or post Christmas) shopping to do, now’s your chance to snag that miniature piece for your loved one!

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS:

 22nd Annual Holiday Miniatures Show

'Sacred Spaces'.........oil on canvas panel........8x10 inches

 My painting 'Sacred Spaces' is currently on display at the Abend Gallery's  

22nd Annual Miniatures Show. 

For more info and to view online exhibition click here.

Annual Winter Miniatures Show

'Post Holiday Blues'.........oil on canvas panel.........11x11 inches

I am also participating in the Annual Winter Miniatures Show hosted by Sage Creek Gallery.

Exhibition will be on display through January 2013! 

For more info and to view online exhibition click here.

UPCOMING 2013 WORKSHOP:

Plein Air Painting in Ojai, CA 

April 1st - 5th, 2013

There are still available spaces left in my upcoming plein air painting workshop located in Ojai, CA.
Space is limited so be sure to sign up to reserve your spot!

For more info and workshop details click here.

~

May the Holidays bring you much contentment, inspiration, organic cinnamon and free-range joy and may your New Year be prosperous, peaceful and magical!

Ben and Jennifer - Anguilla 2012

Autumn's Awesome Adventures!

Below is one of my recent paintings 'Idling on P3' which will be included in my upcoming two person show at Abend Gallery

'Idling on P3'.........oil on canvas panel.........9x12 inches

Greetings and Happy Autumn!

Summer is winding down and Fall is on the rise. The rise of Fall has begun. Rise Fall, rise. It’s still too hot for me, and the rest of the world too. Something’s got to give though, can’t stay hot forever (I hope!) Anyway, with the cool breeze of the California Autumn comes additional delights, like brisk evening walks, colorful assortment of gourds and giant orange harvest moons hanging low on the horizon. But enough looking to the warm glow of the future, let’s reflect a little on the past and present as I share some snippets of exciting recent events and the McChristian news!

CURRENT / UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS:

 

'Reverence'.........oil on panel..........15x18 inches

1st Annual Figurative Show

My painting ‘Reverence’ is currently on display for the 1st Annual Figurative Show at the Sage Creek Gallery in Santa Fe, NM. Show runs until October 30th, 2012.
To view online exhibition click here. 

'The Query'........oil on panel......12x15 inches

2012 OPA Western Regional Exhibition

I am also delighted to share that my painting ‘The Query’ was recently accepted into the OPA Western Regional Exhibition which opened on October 5th at the beautiful Gallery 1261 in Denver, CO.
To view online exhibition click here.

'Sentinel'.........oil on canvas panel.........8x10 inches

Three Person Show

This month I will also be participating in a three person show at Abend Gallery in Denver, CO. I will be displaying exciting new works alongside the bold and gorgeous paintings of the talented Sandra Pratt and Zhaoming Wu. Opening reception is on October 26th from 5 to 9pm.
For more info and to view online exhibition click here.

NEWS AND EVENTS:

I am extremely pleased to share that I have garnered several awards in the past several months!  My painting ‘Traipsing in Trastevere’ received the OPA Donor’s Award of Excellence at the 21st Annual Oil Painters of America National Exhibition. My painting 'The Query' recently received Award of Excellence from the OPA Western Regional Exhibition which just opened last week at Gallery 1261!
I also received Best of Show from the BoldBrush May 2012 online competition. Woo Hoo!
In addition to all that awesomely good news I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker on the Artist Mentors Online hosted by the wonderful and gracious Linda Fisler and Blanche McAlister Harris.
Click here to listen to my fun interview as I share informative tips and insights on painting and teaching. Speaking of teaching, I was very honored and thrilled to have been invited to the 4th Annual Weekend with the Masters event which took place in beautiful San Diego last month. I had a blast teaching wonderful students and meeting awesome painters! Below is a pic of me teaching at the Torrey Pines Gliderport in San Diego during the Weekend with the Masters event. Good times!

First day of workshop at Torrey Pines Gliderport

2013 PLEIN AIR PAINTING WORKSHOPS:

I am excited to announce that my 2013 plein air painting workshops have finally been posted!

For more info and registration details click here.

On a totally unrelated note, I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the final flight of the space shuttle Endeavor!  Flew directly overhead just as I stepped out of my house! Looked like some surreal sky whale pack with its two fighter jet dolphins escorting its slow tour of LA.
Weird and awe inspiring! Right place at the right time again :-)

~

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope it helps to give some kind of insight into my mind and general cosmology. I'm off to market now to purchase some pumpkins and irregularly shaped gourds. The fine smell of the cinnamon broom is perfuming my art studio, and soon small goblins and witches will be asking for sugary handouts!  

Have a fun filled Autumn with a Spooky Halloween and a Grateful Thanksgiving!

Serendipitous Summer

Here is one of my recent paintings of a cannon chamber in the Castel Sant D'Angelo from our Rome trip in Autumn 2011

'Cannon Room'..........oil on panel............9x12 inches

Greetings and Happy Summer!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! It’s been a long time coming, still not quite as hot as I’d like or remember from summers past.  But with this year’s wacky weather I should be careful what I wish for...don’t want it to turn out like that old Twilight Zone, you know the one.  

Recently returned from teaching a plein air workshop at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA. My, how I love that place!  Stone hot tubs with natural mineral water right on the cliffside overlooking the Pacific Ocean!  We stayed in the Artist’s Yurt; a small cylindrical wood cabin nestled in the hillside with ocean views.  We dined on organic food grown right on the property on a five thousand year old compost begun by the Esalen tribe of Native Americans.  On the second to last day I accidentally cut a small piece of my thumb off with the dangerously sharp grapefruit knife, so a part of me has most likely joined the five thousand year old compost  (or been inadvertently ingested by a vegan).  Imagine that, straight from vegan to cannibal, no middle step.  That’s soooo Esalen.  Like a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, and buried at the bottom of the sea.  How cool is that! I have included few pics of the workshop, but first a few quick announcements on my 'American Artist Magazine' article, upcoming OPA exhibition at the Evergreen Gallery and my 3 day plein air workshop at the Weekend With the Masters in September 2012.

NEW ARTICLE!

I am very excited to share that I have a new article about me in the July/August issue of American Artist Magazine! Copies are currently available at most major newsstands.
You can also order your copy online by clicking here

UPCOMING SHOWS:

My new painting ‘Traipsing in Trastevere’ was juried into OPA's  '21st Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils'. This wonderful event will be held at the beautiful Evergreen Fine Art Gallery in Colorado.
Opening reception is on Friday, June 22nd from 5 to 10pm.
For detailed information regarding this event click here

'Traipsing in Trastevere'.........oil on panel.........14x17 inches

2012 WORKSHOPS:

 I will be teaching three 'one day' plein air painting workshops this September at the 'Weekend With the Masters' in San Diego, CA.
The workshops are filling up fast so make sure to reserve your spot soon!
For details regarding registration, lodging and fees click here

ESALEN WORKSHOP,  JUNE 2012 PICS:

First day of workshop! 

 Students Usana, Terry and Jodie hard at work

 Here I am critiquing student while

holding up my freshly injured thumb to slow down bleeding

 The lovely Esalen gardens

 Hubby Ben enjoying his 43rd birthday at Esalen

 My awesome students! 

Clockwise from upper left: Ben (workshop assistant), Carol, Lucy, Mary, Janice,

Georgia, Vanessa, Terry, Jennifer (instructor), Usana, Donna, Sharon 

(Jodi missing from pic)

~

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
May you have a radiant, inspiring and adventurous Summer!

Momentous May Musings

'View from the Ferris Wheel'......oil on canvas panel......16x20 inches

Hola Bloggamigos!

What better way to usher in the summertime than to celebrate the festive Cinco de Mayo, when Mexico kicked French butt in the battle of Puebla!  This weekend I’ll be in Fredericksburg, Texas for the opening of my three person show ‘The Color of Life’ at the InSight Gallery. So excited!
We’ll be sticking around to see how this town founded on German pioneers will celebrate the historic and at the time unlikely Spanish victory over the French forces! I’m hoping to see some bar brawls myself, with lots of accordions, lederhosen, French cursing, and masked Mexican wrestlers! I suppose I should be careful what I wish for. Vive La Difference!

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS: 

'The Color of Life'

'The Color of Life' three person show opens this weekend at the beautiful, newly renovated InSight Gallery located in the heart of Fredericksburg, TX.

Artists' opening reception on May 4th from 6 to 8pm.

For more info and to view online exhibition click here

2012 SUMMER / FALL PLEIN AIR WORKSHOPS:

I’ll be teaching two more workshops in 2012. One spot just opened up for the June plein air painting workshop at 'Esalen' and there is still time to register. In September, I will be teaching at the 'Weekend With the Masters'.  This workshop is filling up fast so make sure to reserve your spot soon!

For more detailed information on workshops please click here or go to:

http://jennifermcchristian.com/workshops

~

That’s all for now and many thanks for taking the time to read my blog.
Hope you all have a spectacular and sumptuous summer!

Sprightly Spring Things!

Greetings and Happy Spring!
I'm excited to share 'Le Sanctuaire', one of my new paintings that will be exhibited in an upcoming three person show at the Insight Gallery in early May 2012. Participating artists will include myself, Cheri Christensen and Qiang Huang. More info coming soon!

'Le Sanctuaire'.........oil on canvas panel..........11x14 inches

Spring is just around the corner, or some might argue due to the incredibly mild winter that spring is just about to give way to summer.  Either way it’s already March, a time when we celebrate marching bands and all other forms of marching.  That’s right, that’s why they named it March.  Unless they meant to name it Marsh, a time when frozen tundra thaws into swampy mud full of mosquitoes.  Not sure, I’m a painter, not a historian.  For all I know the month was named after a woman named Marge.  Maybe Marge liked to march in the marsh, it’s possible.  Regardless, it’s a busy year ahead for yours truly, with gallery deadlines nipping at my heels like small, unruly terriers and plein air painting workshops thundering on the horizon like a herd of wild horses.  It’s going to be another big year for Jennifer, and I’m running as fast as I can just to keep up with myself.  Thank God for Ben, he’s awesome, I’d be nothing but a small quivering pile of jelly crying in my soup in a house full of cats without him. 

CURRENT / UPCOMING SPRING EXHIBITIONS:

'Cue Ball'........oil on canvas panel.........8x8 inches

'8x8 Small Gems'
My new painting ‘Cue Ball’ is currently on display for the '8x8 Small Gems'
 at the Waterhouse Gallery located in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA. Show runs until March 23rd.

To view online exhibition click here

'Lucky Shirt'.........oil on panel........16x20 inches

This painting was awarded 2nd Place from the February 2012 'BoldBrush Painting Competition' judged by FongWei Liu. 

To view competition winners click here

'Contemporary Masters, Artistic Eden III'
My new painting ‘Lucky Shirt’ is currently on exhibit at the ‘Contemporary Masters, Artistic Eden III’ exhibition. The third biannual exhibition featuring works by nationally recognized representational artists will remain at the Pasadena Museum of History through Sunday, July 29th, 2012. 
For more info click here

'Before Lunch'.........oil on panel..........11x14 inches

'2nd Annual Scottsdale Salon'
In April I will be participating in Legacy Gallery’s ‘2nd Annual Scottsdale Salon’. 

Artists’ exhibition opens April 20th.
For more info and to view online exhibition click here

2012 PLEIN AIR PAINTING WORKSHOPS:

JUST ADDED - NEW WORKSHOP!

I am very excited and honored to have been recently invited to teach a plein air painting workshop at the Weekend With the Masters 2012 event held in San Diego in September 2012!  

More info coming soon!

For detailed information, locations, dates and registration info regarding my 2012 plein air painting workshops click here

 ~
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and may your Spring Season be filled with inspiration, renewal and prosperity!

Happy New Year!

'Not Open 'til Dinner'.......oil on canvas panel......8x10 inches

Greetings ! Hope 2012 is off to a delicious start for you!

Made a ton of New Year’s Resolutions, sort of taking the shotgun approach this year. If I make enough resolutions I’m sure to hit some of them. Actually got a lot of the last year’s resolutions under my belt: visited Rome, taught five workshops, completed a new book, but still haven’t learned fluent Italian. Well, there it is. Hope everyone had a perfectly Dickensian Christmas season. I know I did, but I think the three ghosts of Christmas that visited me were just indigestion from too much pie, turkey, and ham. Yikes! 

GOOD NEWS!

The New Year is off to a great start - I received Honorable Mention for my painting ‘Vagabonds at Rest’ from the Oil Painters of America ' Fall 2011 OPA Online Showcase Competition' juried by the very talented Dan Beck.  This painting portrays two beggar women on the Spanish Steps in Rome taking a break to gossip about tourists. A personal favorite of mine! To see complete list of winners click here.

CURRENT WINTER EXHIBITION:

Gallery 1261 'Small Works Show'

My new painting ‘Chestnut Peddler’ is currently on display at Gallery 1261’s 'Small Works Show.'  This prestigious and exciting group show runs through January 21st, so if you happen to be in the Colorado area, make sure to stop by and take a peek. This show includes a wonderful array of stunning artwork from a very talented group of artists I am extremely honored to be exhibiting with! 

To view online exhibition click here.

'Chestnut Peddler'.......oil on panel........12x16 inches (SOLD)

2012 PLEIN AIR PAINTING WORKSHOPS:

If you’ve resolved to learn plein air painting in 2012, please keep my workshops in mind.
This year’s lineup of beauteous locations includes Sedona, Big Sur, France and Italy!
Please reserve your space soon! Availability is limited and subject to change.
For more info and registration details click here.

~

That's it for now. Stay tuned for additional info on upcoming shows and events. 2012 should be a very productive and exciting year!

May your New Year be filled with adventure, creativity and joy!

Buon Anno!